World War III
'World War III '(called the '''Russo-European War '''till 2048) is the war currently ongoing between the Russian Federation and the European Continental Alliance (supported by the United States of America). Background Rise of the Reds After the end of Global War of Terror in 2028, the newly formed military and revolutionary coup Governments with assistance from Chinese, formed the Eurasian Unity League (EUL), in essence a Chinese Marshall Plan for the broken economy of Europe. China, in exchange for military bases on EU territory, provided guidance in the reconstruction. Meanwhile while the west struggled to recover from its wounds, Russia finally saw years of economic and political turmoil come to an end as Nikolai Suvorov became the new president. The coincidental huge exports of fossil fuels and raw materials to Europe thanks to China’s lent cheap credits to rebuild its infrastructure further boosted Suvorov’s popularity as this newfound wealth enhanced Russian infrastructure, military and society. The same year Advanced Weapons R&D corps of Russian Army was formed under the command of “Scientist General” Nikita Ivanovich Aleksandr. The strength and influence of Russian Federation grew further as many East European states took advantage of EU disintegration and formed economic and political alliances with Russia. This however resulted in Ukraine clashes against Pro-westerners in 2036, eventually culmunating in Eastern Ukraine and later Belarus becoming part of the Russian Federation after Russians interfered on the behalf of Pro-Russians. In 2037, ECA launched Operation Nemesis as a plan to remove North African GLA strongholds. With GLA influence removed after its retreat to central and Western Africa, the African Resource Rush began, and Russia too followed ECA, China and US, forming multiple military strongholds in Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and South Sudan, where Russian forces often found themselves against GLA insurgents. 2039 saw ECA launching their first Solaris Satellite, quickly followed by three others, making Europe largely self sustaining in terms of power. As a result, many fuel treaties with Russia were cancelled, putting a strain on Russian economy and affecting Russo-European relations. In 2040 General Aleksandr’s fame and popularity grew further when his Shock Divisions were able to defeat a joint US-Chinese military force at the Battle of Kurmuk in South Sudan, though the costly battle affected Russian economy further. Strangling economy Four years after the ECA invasion, GLA re-emerged under the command of Anwar Sulaymaan, beginning a series of strikes against Russian military bases. European General Wolfgang tried to mount an unauthorized diversionary attack on GLA to protect Russian forces under General Orlov, only to be later called back by ECA high command, unbeknownst to Orlov. Although the Shock Divisions were able to save Orlov’s forces, the increasing GLA strikes and already declining economy forced the Federation to leave Africa entirely in a few months. Opposition against Suvorov grew as the Russian economy began to crash. Tensions grew further as the so-called “European Betrayal” by Wolfgang was mentioned by Russian officials as the primary factor for Russian retreat from Africa and by extension its weakening economy. Russia’s economic trade-off with SAP the following year wasn’t able to revitalize Russian economy as well, and the year of 2044 saw the Federation facing an extremely dry, hot summer, causing crop failures, forest fires and violent hunger clashes. Russian officials blamed ECA’s Solaris technology as the cause, while ECA dismissed the claim, blaming Russian fossil fuel usage. At New Year’s Eve of 2045, President Suvorov and General Aleksandr orchestrated a false flag operation on a Russian Missile base in Kaliningrad, where the Shock Divisions raided posing as European forces. The same day, Suvorov using the incidence as a pretense, declared war on Europe. Course of War Initial fights On January 1, 2045, Russian Air force immediately launched a series of Air raids on European mainland, destroying much of ECA’s aerial assets still in their hangars. While the raids took place deep into enemy territory, Russian ground forces, under the command of General Aleksandr, invaded Eastern Europe. ECA’s Easternmost ally, Western Ukraine’s army of merely 26,000 troops, backed by a group of tanks couldn’t stand a chance against the whole 20th Army of Russian Federation and was easily defeated, though the initial battles proved to be extremely fierce. Neutral countries of Hungary and Slovakia also fell in matter of days, allowing Russian Army to reach the ECA’s “impenetrable” borders in May of same year. Fighting continued on the borders, as the Russian forces tried to break through the fortified borders. At the Polish front, the some sections of the blockade were breached by Russian armour, coupled by artillery fire. However the Poles continued to stand their ground in their fortified posts hidden in extensive forests for over a month, laying low until the Russian forces came near, and then attacking them. Soon however, Russian army was able to overcome them, particularly at a front where a Siberian Sergeant Boris Bikov’s inspirational and brave offense allowed his battalion to annihilate a Polish outpost. Breakthrough With the fortified border breached, Russian forces entered ECA’s territory in masse. Austria and Czech Republic were also overrun by Russian Army quickly as Aleksandr continued his traditional approach of using regular Russian army to keep European forces contained before his Shock Divisions dealt a deadly final blow, getting all the fame for the offense. At the German-Austrian and Southern German-Polish border, where ECA’s top class forces were stationed, Russians continued to advance with their super-heavy tanks and advanced weapons, while General Leonid Zhukov’s 20th army was ordered to rush thorough the Russian-Polish border, pass through Low countries of Ne Be Lux, which according to him were “small and unimportant countries easy to overwhelm”, before attacking France from North east, diverting French troops from French-German border so that the Shock Divisions could break in and capture Aleksandr’s main goal, Paris until 2046’s Christmas. Aleksandr’s plan didn’t succeed however, as after the Russian forces marched through Northern Germany , ECA General Willem van der Meer’s forces evacuated the civilians in Netherlands and flooded the whole Dutch countryside by opening the Northern floodgates and turning the whole area into a huge swamp. As a result, Russian advance came to a slow pace upon reaching the Netherlands in August 2046. Fall of Berlin Fierce battles took place at Polish-German border, with top ECA and Russian forces clashing with each other. In November of 2045, Germans deployed prototype Manticore Super-heavy tank against Russian Sentinels and Golems at Swiebodzin, Poland, with very satisfying results. However, despite experiencing some losses against German forces, Aleksandr’s Shock divisions were able to advance through the border, and reach Berlin in February 2046. An extremely fierce battle took place where Germans fought fanatically for their city. Although much of the city fell against Russian army, German forces were able to hold up Mitte, the central government district for five days, until Lieutenant Boris Bikov was able to spot an exploitable breach, allowing Russian soldiers to rush to German Reichstag and capture it. After the fall of Berlin, Aleksandr made it his forces’ headquarters, from where he co-ordinated the attacks on France. Russians took control of major German assets, particularly the ECAN Media Centre, which was forcibly taken off the net by a Russian Spetsnaz team during a live broadcast. With ECAN branch in their control, Russian Army was able to spread its propaganda throughout Europe, further damaging the morale of remaining European forces and civilians. In April of same year, General Orlov’s 106th Guards Airborne Division was able to capture and establish a stable beachhead in Koblenz, securing vital bridges for Russian advance through polluted Rhine and into France. In Berlin, retired Captain Frank Jaeger organized a resistance against the occupying Russian forces, particularly General Aleksandr. Swamped While Orlov’s and Aleksandr’s forces advanced through Southern Germany, Zhukov’s 20th Army faced major causalities as they passed through flooded Dutch countryside littered with hidden traps, including Robotic turrets and land mines. After four months, Zhukov’s forces were able to enter Belgium in early 2047, with much of the elements of 20th army evacuated. Later that year, Russian suspicions of Solaris technology being weaponized were confirmed when Russian Aircraft carrier “Peter the Great” was destroyed by a pillar of focused Solar energy, via one of ECA’s Solaris satellites. Russian army continued advancing through Germany, with Paris as their main focus. Eventually they entered Paris in summer of 2047, half a year later than originally planned, after much of the city was left in ruins by Russian air raids. With Paris occupied, Russian army began advancing through France, until they reached a stalemate in central France for over a year. Invasion of UK With no success in Southern France, Aleksandr turned his attention towards his next target in north, England. Coastal areas of UK were already evacuated as British suspected Russians to bombard these areas using Air raids and Tremor bombing. On September 8, 2047, elements of 2nd and 3rd Shock Divisions, accompanied by 13th Guards army invaded British coast. British 8th homeguard spread throughout the coast was concentrated by high command on the coastal towns of Kingston and Ramsgate, as British believed Russian army would try to capture these harbours first. Unexpectedly however, Russian forces landed on beaches between the cities, while Russian VDV troopers were paradropped further inland, completely distracting British forces while main invasion force headed towards the target cities. Russian forces were able to completely overwhelm British defenders after a fierce fight of two hours before Royal Lancers sent by General Charles Cutting, along with fire support from Royal Navy were able to turn the tide of battle. Berlin Massacre Russia's costly victory over the Netherlands, the drawn out siege of Paris and the utter failure of the amphibious invasion of England proved to be a great morale boost for the battered Europeans and their stubborn defence of France delayed the Russian advance. As the dry summer of 2047 gave way to a rainy autumn, the conflict soon degenerated into a vicious tug-of-war with short, spiteful reciprocal attacks against contested factories, power plants and supply depots alongside a 1000 kilometre frontline. Meanwhile, the populations of the occupied territories started to engage in large-scale demonstrations and strikes while providing the organised resistance movements with plenty of underhanded support, threatening the supply lines for the decisive offensive that Aleksandr had envisioned for the next spring. In Berlin, the underground resistance lead by Frank Jaeger continued as the civilians began protesting for peace talks and an end to rationing of food and electricity. In October 2047, General Aleksandr became aware of Frank Jaeger’s role in the resistance movement and ordered his forces to capture Jaeger’s family in order to get a lead on the commando himself. On 14th of October, the revolts were brutally suppressed after Shock Troopers massacred protesters in Berlin. Following this, a strict crackdown was imposed on Berlin citizens. Operation 'Pandora' By summer of 2048, Russian divisions had pushed the last fighting ECA remnants in the south near the Garonne River. Beyond that, the only thing still standing between Russian Federation and its total victory after three years of war would be the Pyrenees Mountains, followed by outmatched Spanish and Portuguese armies. Despite having repelled an amphibious invasion at the coast of England, the British were still unable to mount a landing of their own and surviving Dutch, Belgian and German forces had pulled back into the Iberian Peninsula to recover. While ECA’s Prime Minister Norman Fitzgerald fought a hopeless diplomatic battle in UN, the French High command, which had taken refuge on French Aircraft Carrier Richelieu after the fall of Paris, decided to initiate Operation Pandora in May of 2048. French President Jean-Philippe Marmont ordered the surviving ECA forces to deploy European Neutron weapons against the Russian forces. The same day, dozens of neutron weapons were launched at advancing Russian forces between the outskirts of Bordeaux and Toulouse. The resulting explosions wiped out more than three hundred thousand soldiers of the Russian military, including some elite tank divisions. General Aleksandr, upon receiving the news of the attack, became enraged, and requested President Suvorov to deploy Russian Nuclear weapons in retaliation. Suvorov and Russian Chiefs of Staff, already questioning Aleksandr’s integrity, gave the clearance to General Zhukov instead, who at that time was stationed at Binnenhof with his 20th army, which was sidelined after defeats in England and causalities in Netherlands. Aleksandr even requested to launch a pre-emptive strategic strike on the Americas to ensure that United States won’t interfere, a request which was immediately refused by an angry Suvorov. The American involvement In June, US President William Bradford called Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Russian Federation, citing America's geopolitical responsibilities and Russian war crimes as his justification to support the ECA. The congress authorized the permission, and United States declared war on Russian Federation. With the move, the war was officially declared World War III by the United Nations. In the hours following the commencement of hostilities between the United States and Russia, major population centers began preliminary evacuation as US and European nuclear arsenals stood ready to retaliate in the event of Federation First strike as the particle and laser defense system were moved to alert status. NASA and the ESA begin accelerating the launch of Killsats and missile defense systems to Earth orbit. On July 7, 2048, as part of the Operation ‘Blue Trident’, a US Navy task force led by the USS Spirit of Freedom Mobile Offshore Base engaged Russian Naval forces, led by Aircraft carrier Kuznetsov, near the Azores, which were fighting the remaining European Navy elements. The final strike by USAF Supersonic Aurora Bombers was able to take down the carrier, killing over ten thousand people aboard. Three weeks later, on July 28 in Berlin, General Aleksandr narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Frank Jaeger accompanied by US Navy SEALs, in Operation ‘Pope’s Revenge’. On August 10, 2048, US Marines led by General Bradley commence Operation ‘Backbreaker’. Hundreds of amphibious troop carriers and heavy hovercraft transports loaded with tanks stormed the French Mediterranean coast near Marseille to relieve the European forces. The unexpected attack resulted in much causality for Russians. In October, in an attempt to pull US out of the battle for a while, Russian airborne forces stationed in Brazil seized control of the ESA space center in French Guiana. They attempted to gain temporary access to the Solaris network and used one of the satellites to fire an energy burst on the USS Spirit of Freedom, damaging the vessel. A joint force of the British SAS, Royal Marines, and Parachute Regiment was dispatched to re-route control of the satellites to mainland Europe and scuttle the facilities, though the de-orbiting of satellite ‘Newton’ during the Operation resulted in blackouts throughout UK.Category:Wars Category:Lore